Every teacher is dedicated to the academic development of students during the time they teach them. Only a good teacher can provide a spark to ignite their imagination and instill in them a love for learning.
As a teacher, you play a crucial role in molding the minds of your students and encouraging them to be active. Good teachers are important for the academic and overall development of their students.
The question is, how to be a good teacher you always wish you had or were lucky enough to have?
Becoming a good teacher is not just about being organized and having lesson plans. Every academic institution requires its teachers to make academic lesson plans, but only a few make it to the top teachers. So, what makes a good teacher?
Apart from the hard skills, it’s the soft skills that set them apart. These soft skills are innate in few and others can just work on them.
Following are the 7 soft skills with ways to develop them-
- Clear communication–
Communication is the key to solving most of the problems. It helps improve relationships and fosters positive interactions. Good teachers master both verbal and non-verbal communication i.e., they can read between the lines too.
Ways to develop-
Active listening, not just hearing, is essential for good communication as it aids clear communication. You must know when to talk and when to just listen. You must listen to cater to your students and not just to reply.
Providing feedback- positive and negative- in a well-put way. Providing positive feedback boosts the confidence of parents and the child. Providing negative feedback tests your skill. Be cautious of your body language, it shouldn’t ooze negativity. Don’t forget to offer solutions to the negative feedback.
- Express interest in all your students–
By making your students feel that every opinion matters, you can make them more confident.
Ways to develop-
- An act as simple as addressing them to your students by their names can help set a positive tone.
- You can spread cheer in the class by encouraging your students to share their experiences or by sharing some anecdotes yourself. In that way, kids feel a sense of belongingness and engagement.
- Being empathetic and showing care towards your students by words or actions can make them more open to you. They will speak comfortably with you and express themselves.
- Keep some sense of humor-
Learning doesn’t always have to be serious. Your students are more likely to remember the lesson if you incorporate humor into it.
Ways to develop-
- Sharing anecdotes related to the topics.
- Learning is more fun when it is surprising. Incorporate mystery into your lectures and the kids will look forward to your classes.
- Bring a smile to the kids’ faces by quoting something silly. It can break the tension in the class.
- Flexibility and adaptability-
When the odds are against you, you should be able to shift gears. Shifting gears and being more flexible was required the most in the recent past. During the lockdown, many teachers, who had hitherto never used technology much, have had to adapt to it.
Being a good teacher also requires keeping yourself updated and never stopping learning. For updating your knowledge from time to time, XSEED’S SuperTeacher app is the one for you.
- Celebrate strengths and assist weaknesses–
By fostering creativity and going that extra mile to create lesson plans for meeting the individual needs of your students. By not just doing the bare minimum, you can build strong and healthy connections with them.
Ways to develop-
- In your presence, the students must feel free to be able to express their thoughts, how they feel about a topic, and if they can understand it or not. Good teachers are proactive and find it out with their student’s expressions.
- While active students draw your attention, make sure to interact enough with those who are introverted. Ensure their participation in class activities too.
- Deal well with difficult students–
Every class has a set of students who create problems in the class. This may be because they get zoned out easily. These students might keep you on your toes. Dealing with them might seem a little task.
Ways to deal-
- By assigning them responsibilities, you can make them feel more connected to the class and engaged.
- Instead of threatening them, talk through the problems they may be facing. Offer solutions and express your concern regarding them.
- Time management–
Every profession needs time management skills, but teaching seems to require it the most. With teaching, planning the lessons and resources before the class, making the classes engaging and full of learning, teachers seem to have a lot on their plates.
Ways to leverage time-
- Goal setting- Xseed tools can help you plan and keep track of your lesson plans.
- Keep resources up to date- By keeping test plans ready for each topic, Xseed testmaker saves you time.
With Covid, in-class learning has come to the back foot and learning has evolved to a more digital space where teachers and students communicate and learn in the comfort of their homes.
XSEED products like XEED SuperTeacher can help you manage your time and be a Super teacher. Xseed SuperTeacher tool allows you to teach anytime, anywhere as it integrates teaching with video conferencing tools like zoom.
XSEED method of teaching is experiential rather than rote learning. It invites the engagement of students to the topic being taught, which will make your classes interesting and make you a good teacher.
XSEED MAX is the tool for you if you want to engage students in STEM subjects.
XSEED testmaker provides a question bank of over 1 lakh+ questions and provides score criteria that aid teachers to assess their students aptly.
XSEED book packs are an easy guide for you to promote hands-on learning for your students.
Teaching is a profession that requires sheer patience, compassion, and dedication. The gift of teaching is innate to a few while others have to work harder to achieve the status of a good teacher. After all, it’s all worth the effort when you see your students grow up to become contributing members of society and your heart swells with pride.
Enroll in the XSEED SuperTeacher program to have the best teaching experience!
